MBB: MAC Freedom League

[d3hoopstories]

For Misericordia to hang with better teams, they must hold their own on the boards and get to the line repeatedly. They beat Swarthmore by shooting 36 free throws. Against DelVal, they shot only 11 FTs and were -11 on rebounds.

[Pat Coleman]

I have the sad task today of announcing the passing of a D3boards.com original, Warren Thompson. A retired professor of philosophy and religion at Lebanon Valley College, where he taught for 35 years, Warren was one of our original posters. He registered on Nov. 20, 1998, mere days after the message board was launched -- perhaps even the first day it went live. His userid was 7 -- mine is 6.

Warren had as a goal promoting Division III unity among various fans in the Middle Atlantic Conference, and would do so behind the scenes, as well as in public, by bringing them together over pizza, including at his home outside Annville, Pa. The so-called Pizza Summit was a concept which continued for several years beyond that first one in the summer of 1999 or 2000, and was the first time I met many of the posters of those early days.

He was an original Hall of Famer on this board, an honor, frankly, which was created first with him in mind. Nobody exemplified Division III basketball fandom better than Warren, and I was glad to think of him as a friend. And I am sorry for his loss.

Warren was 89. His obit follows:

https://lebtown.com/obituary/warren-k-a-thompson-1935-2025/

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to fourdiamonds.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=4514.

I will be making a donation. If you remember Warren, please consider doing so as well so that his wife, Ann, and his descendants know he was well-loved by this community which he loved so much.

Rest in peace, Warren.

[ronk]

 I missed out on attending that 1st Pizza Summit; don't remember why. Warren will be missed.

[saratoga]

Pat:
Very nicely put.
One of the lasts posts I remember from Warren was not exactly a ringing endorsement of the fledgling Landmark Conference. 

[Pat Coleman]

Pat:
Very nicely put.
One of the lasts posts I remember from Warren was not exactly a ringing endorsement of the fledgling Landmark Conference. 

I'm sure. And he probably liked even less the addition of Wilkes and Lycoming.

[kate]

So very, very sorry to read of the passing of Warren Thompson.   Thank you for posting this Pat, and condolences to Warren's Family.

[d3hoopstories]

A wild night in the MACF on Wednesday.

At the top of the slate, Stevens hammered DeSales 92-52 and sent a message to the rest of the league (and perhaps some top 25 voters as well) in blowing out the team regarded as a contender for the title. The Ducks were dominant in every single phase of the game and showed why they were favored to win the league. The loss dropped the Bulldogs to 2-3 in conference but they ought to be in good shape to battle for the second seed as they will be favored in every game the rest of the way, with the exception of the Ducks' visit on February 12.

Misericordia also dropped to 2-3 after a home loss to Arcadia. The Knights, now 3-2 and in a tie for second, trailed by as many as 13 but fought their way back and won with four players in double figures.

DelVal turned the ball over just seven times against King's but made only 14 of 37 shots inside the arc and dropped to 3-2 in league play. The schedule toughens dramatically and the Aggies may end up on the outside looking in when the conference tourney matchups are finalized.

Was the biggest surprise of the night in Madison, NJ, where FDU-Florham knocked off Lebanon Valley for its first win in conference play? LVC will need to right the ship against Arcadia on Saturday if it wants to remain in the hunt for a spot in the postseason.

[Stretch4]

For anyone who did not see or hear about it, an amazing career milestone was achieved yesterday during the game between Stevens and FDU. The Ducks pre-season d3 hoops All American, and reigning two time DPOY, Jack Spellman eclipsed the 1,000 career rebound mark becoming the second player in Stevens history with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. It does not end there, as with his 1,000th rebound he became just the sixth known player in NCAA D3 to ever accumulate 1k points, 1k rebounds, and 300 blocked shots in a career, and the first since 2010. It took him only 94 games to achieve this crazy milestone - extremely impressive! Congrats to Jack Spellman on joining an extremely exclusive club.

[d3hoopstories]

With Stevens carrying a three-game lead into the second half of the conference slate, there is not much suspense about the regular season champion and number 1 seed, but plenty of questions remain:

(1)    Who will join Stevens in the conference tournament?
DeSales ought to secure the second seed, probably with a record of 10-4 or 9-5, but three teams will battle through the final weekend for the last two places in the conference tournament.
The February 5 matchup between Misericordia and Lebanon Valley may go a long way toward determining who finishes third and travels to DeSales for a semifinal three weeks later. The loser of that game might be destined for a fourth-place finish and a February 26 trip to Hoboken. Arcadia has lost four of its last five and will travel to DeSales and Stevens next. That back-to-back might leave them at 3-6 in conference. Can they win five straight to finish the regular season and sneak in? Misericordia visits the Knights on February 12 and the Cougars travel to Lebanon Valley to conclude the conference slate ten days later.

(2)    Can the Ducks land a Pool C bid, if needed? Where are they likely to be seeded in the NCAA Tournament?
Stevens has won 8 straight games, including 7 games by 15 or more. The Ducks are now 15th nationally in D3 Datacast's efficiency rankings, with a top 10 defense and a top 60 offense. All three of their losses came to teams ranked in Massey's Top 100.
More importantly, they are 48th in today's NPI rankings and projected to rise to 41st before selections are made for the NCAA Tournament. That would put them right on the cusp of a Pool C bid if they failed to win the MAC Freedom title.
A record of 23-4 ought to be good enough to secure the bid. That would mean going undefeated in the conference regular season. If they finish 22-5, they are likely to be left out, unless DeSales and Misericordia separate from the rest of the league and boost their own NPIs north of 53 before the end of the season. The Ducks would also benefit from Catholic, Hamilton and Middlebury continuing to win, so that those losses become less punitive.
They will most likely be an 11 or 12 seed, pitting them against a top 25 team in the first round. It is quite possible they see either Catholic or Hamilton when the bracket is announced.

(3)    Who is likely to land on the all-conference list?
Jack Spellman is the best player on the best team and clearly the favorite to win player-of-the-year. As Stretch4 noted in an earlier post, the senior has career totals exceeding 1000 points and 1000 rebounds. He also leads the conference in blocked shots.
Stevens sophomore Kyle Maddison is 8th in the conference in scoring and 5th in assists. His 34 steals and 54 3-pointers are the best in the league.
Caleb Gibbs of DeSales has been consistently good, averaging 17 points and 8 rebounds per game. He is the only league player to rank in the top 5 in both categories.
Kevin Lazdowsky of Misericordia and Evin Timochenko of Lebanon Valley are the most likely candidates for the last two spots.

[d3hoopstories]

Another interesting week in the MACF, with several upsets creating a logjam in the middle of the standings.

First, Stevens has dropped two in a row after a 75-66 road loss to Misericordia yesterday, a game in which the Ducks appeared to be missing two of their top 8 players and one of their frontcourt starters was whistled for two fouls in the first 75 seconds of the game. The Cougars shot 29 free throws. The Ducks shot 12.

In the end, the Ducks could not overcome 21 turnovers that led to 19 Misericordia points. Big man Spellman was limited to just 3 shots, a performance eerily similar to their previous game against Misericordia on January 11. The Ducks (8-2) are now just two games ahead of Misericordia (5-4) in the loss column.

Five other teams have 5 losses, including Lebanon Valley, which will visit Misericordia in a make-up game on Monday. LVC lost to Delaware Valley yesterday but if they can bounce back on the road tomorrow, a remarkable six teams would be tied for second place at 5-5 with two weeks left in the regular season.

Our prediction is that Stevens finishes 10-4 or 11-3, with Misericordia at 9-5 and Arcadia and DeSales tied for third at 8-6. Because the Knights swept the season series with the Bulldogs, they would get the #3 seed and travel to Misericordia for a conference semi-final with DeSales heading to Hoboken in the other semifinal.

[d3hoopstories]

Monday night update: Misericordia wins at home over LebVal to get to 6-4 in conference play.

Cougars shot 26 FTs. Visitors shot 10.

[phil]

I have the sad task today of announcing the passing of a D3boards.com original, Warren Thompson. A retired professor of philosophy and religion at Lebanon Valley College, where he taught for 35 years, Warren was one of our original posters. He registered on Nov. 20, 1998, mere days after the message board was launched -- perhaps even the first day it went live. His userid was 7 -- mine is 6.

Warren had as a goal promoting Division III unity among various fans in the Middle Atlantic Conference, and would do so behind the scenes, as well as in public, by bringing them together over pizza, including at his home outside Annville, Pa. The so-called Pizza Summit was a concept which continued for several years beyond that first one in the summer of 1999 or 2000, and was the first time I met many of the posters of those early days.

He was an original Hall of Famer on this board, an honor, frankly, which was created first with him in mind. Nobody exemplified Division III basketball fandom better than Warren, and I was glad to think of him as a friend. And I am sorry for his loss.

Warren was 89. His obit follows:

https://lebtown.com/obituary/warren-k-a-thompson-1935-2025/

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to fourdiamonds.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=4514.

I will be making a donation. If you remember Warren, please consider doing so as well so that his wife, Ann, and his descendants know he was well-loved by this community which he loved so much.

Rest in peace, Warren.

I just saw Pat's post for the first time and it brought a tear to my eye. I was here for the early days of d3Hoops.com when the conversation was far less civilized than it is today - discourse which I definitely contributed to while I should have been working. I also remember the pizza summit and wishing I didn't live quite so far away in northern NJ.

Eventually I struck up an online friendship with Warren over LVC and Trenton State/TCNJ basketball - and particularly once my God Daughter decided to attend LVC.

As a golfer, every June a group of about 20 friends, acquaintances, and "special invites" whom we may or may not ever see again, would descend on Hershey Country Club, which was practically next door to Warren in Annville. We'd settle in for four days - with 36 holes/day, and plenty of betting, cigars, cards, and alcohol. I looked forward to it every year like it was Xmas in June.

In '99 or just prior to the birth of my first daughter in 2000, Warren and I decided to meet for a quick cup of coffee before I rushed off to the first tee on the first day I was in town. By year two I was arriving the night before and skipping the first 18 holes of golf the next day so I could have an extended breakfast with Warren. The next year it was breakfast and a tour of the LVC campus. By year three the guys making the golf schedule knew to leave me out for half the day because I was spending time with my "Philosophy buddy".

My last trip to Hershey was in 2006 - just prior to moving my family to Texas - a fact Warren, the Texas native, delighted in after I complained at length about the August heat in Houston after attending a business meeting there a couple years earlier.

After exchanging emails over the years we gradually lost touch. I often wondered whatever happened to Warren - and would check the boards here to see if he had posted anything new. I've wanted to tell him about my life in Texas, my daughter who's currently a D3 athlete in the UAA, and find out what he thinks about fun stuff like the transfer portal and NIL monies.

The best way I can think of to sum up my brief time with Warren is this: My Uncle Connie played in the NY Yankee organization for a very short time many, many years ago before developing Multiple Sclerosis. He was paralyzed - which is the only way I remembered him. He was a devout Catholic and his faith never wavered. His funeral was almost 40 years ago, but I'll always remember the moment that a priest came up to us and said that whenever he saw my Uncle at the VA he'd come away feeling like he got far more out of his time spent with my Uncle Connie than Uncle Connie ever got out of him. Not that I'm a priest, but hat's exactly how I felt about Warren each time I was walking to my car after breakfast.

Rest in peace, Warren. You are missed.

[d3hoopstories]

A pair of big games tonight as teams jockey for seeds in the conference tourney.

Misericordia (6-4) goes on the road to Arcadia (5-5), trying to avenge an 86-79 loss to the Knights three weeks ago in the Cougars' home gym. On Saturday, Arcadia gave up 50 second-half points to King's and lost by double digits. A Knights win would give them a season sweep and an important tiebreaker should they finish the season tied with Misericordia in the MACF standings.

The Cougars have enjoyed an extremely friendly whistle in recent home games against conference teams, having shot 80 free throws combined against LebVal, Stevens, and Arcadia. In each of those games, the Cougars were outrebounded and outshot from the field, needing help at the charity stripe to stay in games. In road conference games, the Cougars average 16 free throws so they may need to improve on the glass and convert second chance points to stay in this one.

Elsewhere, DeSales (5-5) hosts Stevens (8-2), which has lost two straight and had its lead chopped to two games over Misericordia. Jack Spellman scored just 12 points in the last two contests and will need to get going tonight against a Bulldogs team that generally outrebounds its opponents and excels at defending without fouling. The Ducks won the first match-up of the season by 40 points in Hoboken on January 22.

[d3hoopstories]

Home teams won both key games last night, leaving the Ducks at 8-3 and two games ahead of four teams at 6-5. Now riding a three-game losing streak, the Ducks visit King's on Saturday. A win there and they will still be in great shape for the top seed in the conference tournament given that their final game is at home against last place FDU-Florham.

Spellman and Maddison have seen their production tail off in the last three games, shooting a combined 36% from the field and contributing an average of just 17 points a game, down from 27 a game prior to this stretch. The big man has battled foul trouble that is limiting his minutes. The talented guard is logging considerable minutes, as he has all season, and may be showing some signs of fatigue as the season enters the stretch run.

With last night's win over Misericordia, Arcadia owns important tiebreakers and is positioned for the second seed if they can win at home vs DelVal on Saturday.

If Misericordia beats FDU-Florham on Saturday and DeSales knocks off LebVal, both would be 7-5 heading into their matchup next Wednesday. That game would likely decide who gets the 3rd seed.

[d3hoopstories]

It appears to me that if DeSales wins at DelVal (and therefore sweeps the season series), it will own a tiebreaker over Misericordia (which split with DelVal this season) and earn the 3 seed, which probably means a trip to Arcadia a week from today.

That would have Mis heading to Stevens for the other semi-final.